Cheryl Burke

Professional Dancer, Dancing with the Stars

My mom has always been my biggest support. She taught me from an early age to be independent. To think for myself and to never be afraid to speak up for what I believe in. She instilled in me from an early age to follow my passion and to strive to be the best that I can be in whichever path in life I choose.

Amy Andersen

Professional Matchmaker

My mother is the embodiment of elegance, creativity and strength. What has continued to stand out for me is the romance that brought my parents together. My dad proposed to my mom within 7 days of meeting her and she moved to Europe at 23 years old to be with him. Her willingness to take that leap of faith should be a lesson for all of us in following your heart. Fall deeply with passion and conviction into the things that make your heart burn. This could be translated into your relationships, career, or hobbies. Perhaps this is why I chose to become a professional matchmaker.

Tezira Nabongo

VP Talent Management, Silver Lake

This is one of my favorite photos — you can't see my mom's face, but you can see her outline and hands ready to catch me… 43 yrs later, not much has changed.

Among her wise words of advice:

• Value those who value you
• Don't burn or forget the bridges that brought you over
• Education and strong writing skills will be critical to your success
• It's ok to rely on others, but self-sufficiency is the best form of freedom
• Being alone shouldn't be synonymous with being lonely
• Every woman must have a room AND bank account of her own
• All that is bad will be better after a good night's sleep!

Eleni Papademetriou

Co-Owner/GM, The Frog Pond

The best advice my mother gave me was "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent," an Eleanor Roosevelt quotation that my mom enlarged, hung in my bedroom and reiterated during my impressionable adolescent years. At an early age, this advice not only enforced that only I held the power to dictate how others treated me, but also instilled an inner strength and self-confidence in me, especially as a woman. My mom’s insight transcended time and life experiences as to this day, it serves as a constant reminder that I hold the reins to my life.

Farhana Huq

Award Winning Entrepreneur

One of the best advice I got from my mom is to give of yourself but to not expect anything in return. Her advice was to give because you genuinely want to help someone and to not have the same expectations that they are going to return the favor. When I was in need and the same people I helped didn't show up for me, it felt sad to me. However, taking a different perspective of not expecting anything back from those people really helped. I can still experience joy in giving of myself and make a choice that when I do something for someone, it's coming from a genuine place of love and caring, without expectations.

Sue Kwon

Reporter, Host, Producer at CBS KPIX TV

The best advice I have received from my mom was to find beauty and value in mundane things. She would sew recital dresses out of rejected scraps of fabric. She would make delicious jam out of over-ripe plums from the garden. She creates award-winning abstract art with scrap material and memories pulled from life experiences. I honor her ability to find purpose and beauty in things that would otherwise be discarded or forgotten. Sometimes when life moves too fast, slowing down to heed this advice allows me to be more creative and appreciative of things that I may take for granted.

Hilary Rice Armstrong

Film Maker and Tech Exec

My mom taught me that sometimes the worst things that happen to you in life can turn out to be the best things. She helped me to find a silver lining out of any situation, which helped build resilience and the ability to look for the positive in all situations. The amount of energy that my mom has is remarkable. She can accomplish more in one day than most people that I know. My mom has been an incredible role model for how a woman and mother can work very hard and achieve a lot in ones career and still have a wonderful and fulfilling family life. I am very blessed to have such an incredible mom.

Rosemary Camposano

CEO Halo Blow Dry Bars Inc.

My mom always told me, "You may not be a perfect circle, but you are a perfect whatever you are". Of course, this drove me crazy when I was 9, but as I have grown older, that saying has taken root deeply inside me. Now, sadly, I tell my 13 year old son the very same thing!

PS - My mom also told me, "Waiting is". Try that when you're 9!

David Hornik

General Partner - August Capital

For as long as I can remember my mother has encouraged me and my siblings to stand up for that in which we believe. When we were little, that often meant standing up for ourselves. We learned to be self-reliant. But as we got older, my mother taught us that it was even more important to stand up for the rights of others. She taught us that it was never acceptable to stand by and observe injustice silently, no matter how small.

Kelly Pope

Education Entrepreneur

The best advice I got from my mom was to find and create joy through other people. She made everyone feel special by appreciating something unique about them. She embraced friends and welcomed strangers with the same poise and grace. Best of all, she used humor to jostle people out of their daily focused routine.

My mom taught me the true meaning of JOY. And now, even in my most hectic days, if I slow down for a smile, thumbs up, or short chat with a stranger, my load becomes lightened and my day always brightened.

Dianne Giancarlo

Founder of WANDA and The 3rd Door

My mom was not an educated woman but she worked hard to help support her family of five children. She rose from being a telephone operator in the 1960's (think Lily Tomlin) to becoming a Supervisor Manager for AT&T. My mom taught me that no matter what level of employee you are, you must always be responsible and respectful. She would say, "I'd rather be an hour early than to leave my team waiting five minutes for me." I have always used this advice in the various jobs I have held and I have made it a part of who I am in my relationships outside of work.

Susan Kokores

Co-Founder/Exec Director of WANDA

Betsy Oltmann

Our Mother loves beautiful things and taught us to appreciate the beauty in life, music, literature, theater and people. Full of self-confidence herself, she is both a traditionalist and a non-conformist, not adhering to standard definitions of beauty or anything else. She encouraged us to develop our own definition of beauty, and to embrace who we were, often saying, "You have your own style, you don't have to follow anyone else's!". That has been a fundamental influence on our lives and has led us to believe in ourselves and our values.

Wanda Kownacki

Board Member of Nonprofit Organizations

My mom passed away earlier this year and was a huge influence on me and my life. The absolute best piece of advice she gave me was to never be financially dependent on another person as an adult; to make sure that I had a good education and a career so that I could always support myself and make decisions for myself independently. I followed that advice and I still think that it is the best piece of advice I ever received."

Liz Schoeben

Executive Director, Cassy

Some of the best advice I have ever received came from my dear friend, Elizabeth Bowden Smith, who sadly passed away 3 years ago at the age of 65 from cancer. She taught me that the most important thing a mother can do for her children is to encourage their free spirit. She said encourage your children to be unique and allow them to create and think outside the box. Let your children thrive by discovering the world without confining them to the rules of society. She gave that gift to me and I will pass that on to my own unique, special children. Thank you, dear friend."

Gianna Giancarlo

User Experience Designer at SolutionSet

One of the best advice my mom gave me was surround yourself with people who respect you, with a network that supports your aspirations, with a community who inspires you to achieve greater, with coworkers and classmates who lift you up, with mentors who keep you grounded, and with friends you admire.

Drucilla Stender Ramey

Dean Emerita, GGU School of Law

My mother, a medical school professor and leading feminist spokeswomen of her time, was a force of nature, eulogized by her friend Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as "brilliant, witty, brave, bold, radiantly and agelessly beautiful." Throughout my own childhood, education and career as a civil rights legal activist, I confided in, was advised by, and was fiercely proud of my dazzling mother, who, like her mother before her, believed I could do and be anything. I hope I have been able to pass on to my own daughter—herself a 'brilliant, witty, brave, bold, and radiantly beautiful" young immigrant rights attorney—her grandmother;s example of unconditional love, nurturance, encouragement, support and decency.

Jessica Stender

Legal Director for Nonprofit Organization

The most significant lesson that my mother and grandmother have given me is the importance of treating people with dignity and kindness. As my grandmother wrote in a letter: "If I could leave you with any advice, it would be to speak words of caring, not only to those closest to you, but to all the hungry ears you encounter on your journey through a cold world. Stop on that mountain climb to bring along those less agile or well endowed. It will make the view even more beautiful when you get to the top." I have been lucky enough to have a grandmother and mother who embody the spirit of those words and have provided a constant inspiration to me, and to so many others, to do the same.

Cheryl Nelson

As a young girl, I would cringe when my mother would tell me "do everything in moderation!" Moderation? As I raced all the neighborhood friends in sprints down the hill, collected hundreds of articles to be Battalion Chief during Fire Prevention Week, and read the most books in my sixth grade class, I simply could not relate to moderation. Over the years, I have found the wisdom in moderation and see that it is very applicable to life on a daily basis. Mom, you were right! Here we are happily tipping our hats to welcome in year 2000.

Perla-Ni

Founder of Greatnonprofits

When I was in first gradeI got back the results of one of my tests and showed it to my mother. I thought it was good enough - just a couple of stupid mistakes. My mother said to me - you shouldn't make mistakes. You should be getting 100%. You should always check over your work at least once and if it's important, at least twice.

She taught me to hold myself accountable to high standards and I think much of my success at work is because of that.

Karen King

Chief Legal Counsel, Silver Lake Group

My mother was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman from Minnesota who moved to Tokyo and married a man who had never been outside of Japan. From the day I was born, she taught me to have an open mind, to embrace other cultures and to think internationally. I really appreciate the global and multi-cultural perspective that she gave me.

Nancy Biffar

Writer, Editor and Mother

My mother was intensely curious and passionate regarding everything she cared about, and this list seemed endless. She was the first one in the family with a computer, back before we even understood what they were for. Highly educated, brilliant, intense and inexhaustible, her children always said she would have been running a business, or a country, if born in a different age to a different family. Instead, despite her many talents, she never seemed to regret nor resent that caring for us always came first. She gave unconditional support for anything we dreamed of doing. Her curiosity continued well in to her eighties, when she would ask me, "A penny for your thoughts?"

Srijana Angdemby

Founding Member of El Shadai

Whenever I have to make a tough decision and especially when I am going through a transition, I always hear the wise words of my former employer, Dianne, who became my "mom", a friend, a mentor and my go-to person for any advice (and who performed my wedding ceremony). She told me to "never put anything or anyone above family". I know that everything will fall into place as long as I know what my most important priorities are. Today, Adam and I have been happily married for almost 6 years and have a wonderful 2 year old who loves her G-Ma.

Lisa Higa

Attorney

One of the best advice my mom gave me was to ALWAYS check to make sure your skirt isn't tucked into your undies when you leave the bathroom. In all seriousness, my mom taught me to relax and appreciate the simple things in life. While she encouraged me to strive for everything that I could possibly achieve, she didn’t want me to spend my life singularly focused on my next achievement. Instead, she wanted me to enjoy being in the moment and appreciate the simple pleasures of day-to-day life; dinner with friends, vacations with family, watching a breathtaking sunset. In spite of the frenetic pace of our lives, we've got to make time to soak it all in and enjoy the ride.